


Monsters in the Dark

by GoldenThreads



Category: X-Men (Comicverse), X-Terminators
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Mind Control, Reunions, Undead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-26
Updated: 2014-06-26
Packaged: 2018-02-06 08:57:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1852138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldenThreads/pseuds/GoldenThreads
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Necrosha was a terrible night for Leech to find himself alone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Monsters in the Dark

**Author's Note:**

  * For [buckythevampireslayer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/buckythevampireslayer/gifts).



> While I usually like to ignore the mysterious Forever A Child Syndrome that some of the Marvel kids suffer from, in this case I've rolled with it. The timeline of Leech's move to the Future Foundation is also a bit hazy, so this is _totally_ possible.
> 
> I'm not sorry.
> 
> (Mind Control warning only there for Selene's general control over her army.)

The power went out just past nine, lights and security systems snuffed out in an instant. Nobody needed the usual alarms to know Utopia was under attack. The students gathered together instinctively, patrolling the hallways and working their way above ground — better to have the moon and stars above than a maze of concrete and knowledge of the dark sea beyond. Safety in numbers was poor protection indeed, but they were X-Men. They knew nothing could protect them.

Leech didn’t notice. Huddled within the blanket fort he’d made of his bed, his entire world revolved around beating Artie in their current match of Mario Kart. Every night from seven to nine Leech would hide away with his DS in hand, chasing Artie through as many games as they could before bedtime called him away. It was hard being three hours apart from each other with Artie in New York, but their nightly playtime made it more bearable.

By the time Artie sent his usual farewell sketch of a snoozing bed, they’d played a dozen races too many. The clock was nearing ten when Leech shut off his DS and wiggled out from under his blankets. He didn’t need to sleep for another hour yet, which left plenty of time to read a chapter from his favorite book.

But his night-light had burned out. Leech reached for the bedside lamp and discovered it wouldn’t turn on either. He couldn’t read books without any light! Feeling around in the darkness, Leech made his way over to the closet and dug through the mess for a flashlight. When he finally located one, it didn’t have any batteries.

He was going to be in _big_ trouble when the grownups found out he’d traded his emergency batteries for candy bars.

Maybe Megan had some extra ones. She was always nice to him, and he loved the happy shimmer of her wings. The lecture wouldn’t even be that bad from her! Nothing more than a roll of her eyes, he bet.

Leech slipped out into the pitch black hallway, holding his hand up against the wall and counting doors as he passed. There wasn’t even enough light for him to read the name tags. Good thing he had the whole place memorized after so many games of tag with Cessily. And besides, he was a big boy now. He wasn’t afraid of the dark.

The silence was another story. No matter how Leech strained his ears, he couldn’t hear any of the other students. No Julian screaming for Nori to hurry over and play backup battery before his phone died, no rowdy games of flashlight hide-and-seek. He started walking faster, balling a fist at his side. He was a big boy. He was brave.

When Leech turned the corner, his fingers scraped over a portion of the wall that had been burned away. He paused to investigate, pressing both palms against the rough scorch marks. Still warm.

The splish-splash of puddles greeted him farther down the hall, his socks squishing through puddles of mysterious liquid. Water, he hoped. Maybe they’d snuck water balloons in for a midnight ambush. Not enough light to check.

Suddenly all of Utopia shook with the force of a plummeting giant, and the shuddering crash let in the screams of a distant battle. Leech screamed too, bolting for his room. He tore down the hallway as quick as his feet could carry him, searching desperately for his door, trying every handle he could reach to see if it would let him inside.

The slosh of his wet socks as he ran reminded him of the Morlock tunnels — he wasn’t afraid of the dark, he wasn’t afraid of being alone, he’d grown up like this, he was fine, he was fine. He’d find his room and crawl under his bed and wait until the adults won the day. Just like always.

A distant hiss and slither sent a chill down his spine, and Leech froze in place, pressing himself against the wall. Now he was hearing things. Seeing things. Ghosts of his Morlock days rising before his eyes. He dropped to the ground and pulled his knees against his chest. It was all a bad dream.

_Come here, little one._

A voice Leech recognized, but couldn’t place. He squeezed his eyes shut as though that would protect him against the heavy steps clomping his way, monsters gathering around their prey.

His powers were no help. The monsters only needed their own strength to wring his little neck, and when massive claws snatched him up and shook him about in midair, Leech knew there was nothing left to do but scream.

His deepest nightmare come true — dying alone in the cold, dark sewers with no one to hear him cry.

Then the world blazed hot, crackling like a campfire as the monsters shrieked and recoiled in the most horrendous chorus. Leech tumbled back to the ground and covered his face against the searing light. The sizzle of burning flesh reached his ears first, then the scent of cooked meat and iron gore, cleaving through his senses with a gut-wrenching sense of foreignness, of _wrong_. The screeches turned to static, angry and betrayed, but another crack of heat drove them off.

Leech cowered until the footsteps faded away into the distance, then peeked out from between his fingers. A figure stood there in the darkness, his back turned to Leech as he continued to stand guard, all the harshness of a soldier at attention curled in the sharp line of his spine. Twin wisps of flame lit in his hands, casting shifting shadows against the charred walls and giving Leech just enough light to catch sight of the red and gold of his clothes, the strong shoulders he once perched on while hanging Christmas ornaments high on a tree.

“Rusty!”

Leech barreled into him, arms wrapping around Rusty’s waist as he buried his face against Rusty’s back. His fright evaporated in an instant; his big brother had come to the rescue, had come _home_. Leech always knew he would someday. Everyone always did, if you believed hard enough and wished on every single star.

(Once he and Artie even made Hank draw them a star map to make sure they hadn’t forgotten any.)

“You’re back!” he sobbed, so happy he couldn’t imagine why he was crying.

But Rusty didn’t move. He didn’t flinch or tense up when the boy collided with him, but he didn’t relax either, eyes focused on the field ahead. Flames still danced at his fingertips. The war wasn’t over.

Leech slowly let go of him, pausing to wipe at his tear-stained cheeks before he circled around to Rusty’s front. Rusty’s face was frozen in an expression of restraint and vigilance, jaw clenched in an unforgiving warning. Circuitry wove like spiderwebs through his unblinking eyes, and when Leech stood on tiptoe to try and get his attention, those eyes flickered across him like he was nothing at all.

“Rusty…?”

A new terror twisted in Leech’s stomach, and he would’ve taken a hasty step backwards if his feet hadn’t frozen to the ground. “Please…”

This time Rusty’s eyes fell upon him. The fire in his left hand went out, and he reached down to gently cup Leech’s cheek, the slightest tremble in his touch.

Leech smiled. It only made the tremble worse.

Rusty stooped low enough to pick Leech up, letting the boy sit on his crooked left arm and hide against his shoulder. He cast the still-raging flame of his right hand out in front of them, a warning signal to lead the way as he slowly trudged down the hall. He held the light up to every doorway, sluggishly processing words and names with no meaning.

Warm in his arms, Leech clung to Rusty’s neck and tried to believe if he held on tight enough, this time he could keep his family together. He didn’t even want to pipe up when they finally found his room, but the way Rusty couldn’t even recognize his name scared him more than anything.

“Mine,” Leech mumbled quietly.

Rusty carried the boy inside, his every movement strained and purposeful, and scanned the room for a proper hiding place. Not enough space under the bed, not enough protection afforded by the desk. At last he walked to the closet and opened the door to inspect inside.

He gave Leech back to the darkness without a flashlight or candle to light his way. Leech crouched down in the tiny room, pulling his strewn laundry into his lap like a blanket to replace Rusty’s warmth. He was good at hiding — Rusty knew how often he’d won at hide-and-seek. Still, he didn’t want Rusty to leave, didn’t want the reassuring light of his flames to go out.

Rusty’s hand tightened on the door. He raised one finger to his lips, mouth twisting to form a silent _shh_. Leech nodded, but reached frantically for Rusty’s sleeve when he turned to go.

“Monsters go away?”

Rusty looked back, starshine shimmering in his eyes, then dropped to the ground as if all his strings had been cut. He pulled Leech into a fierce hug, and Leech hugged back just as tight. He was old enough now to know when a grownup was the one who really needed a hug.

“Stay here,” Rusty croaked with a voice not meant to be used, throat burning with ash and cinder. He pulled back to press a kiss to the boy’s forehead, then looked him square in the eye. “Until all the monsters are gone. Promise me.”

Eyes wide, Leech gave him a shaky nod. “Promise.”

The smile Rusty gave him in return was all that kept Leech going through the long, long night.

 

*

 

In the morning, they found Leech still huddled in the messy pile of laundry in his closet, safe and sound. He peeked timidly around his room, checking under his bed for monsters, then took Megan’s hand so she could teleport him out into the hallway. The door to his room had been melded shut.

“Are you okay?” Megan asked him quietly, kneeling down so she was at his eye level. She reached out to touch his shoulder.

Leech pulled away, running over to inspect his mangled door and the protective handprint burned in the center of it. He raised his hand to fit his fingers into the smooth grooves.

It was still warm.

And all the monsters were gone.


End file.
